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Corporate Presentation Andrew Mortimer, Managing Director Reopening Australias first iron ore mine and forging a new technical pathway for nickel production 1 May 2012 Disclaimer Important Notice: This document is not a disclosure


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SLIDE 1

Corporate Presentation

Andrew Mortimer, Managing Director “Reopening Australia’s first iron ore mine and forging a new technical pathway for nickel production”

May 2012 1

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SLIDE 2

May 2012

Disclaimer

Important Notice: This document is not a disclosure document nor does it constitute the provision of financial product advice. No representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information. The information is provided expressly on the basis that recipients will carry out their own independent inquiries into the matters contained herein and make their own independent decisions about the affairs, financial position or prospects of the Company which reserves the right to update, amend or supplement any information at any time in its absolute discretion. Furthermore some of the information in this report relates to future events or future business and financial performance. Such statements constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. Such statements can be only predictions and the actual events or results may differ from those discussed due to, among other things, risks described in “Proto Resources & Investments Ltd” company reports. Competent Person’s Statement: The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results is based on information reviewed by Mr Peter Peebles, who is a Member

  • f the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy. Mr Peebles is a full-

time employee of Darlington Geological Services Pty Ltd and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves”. Mr Peebles consents to the inclusion in

  • f the report of the matters based on his information in the form and

context in which it appears on those slides.

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SLIDE 3

Value Proposition

FLAGSHIP BARNES HILL PROJECT

  • DFS due by July 2012 with 500,000t/pa

throughput resulting in ~47% IRR

  • Targeting iron ore production by the end of 2012

prior to nickel-cobalt production in 2013

EXPLORATION

  • Assays pending on recent Lindeman’s Bore

gold-copper campaign in the Northern Territory

TECHNOLOGY

  • Piloting of the innovative processing technology,

housed within the majority-owned technology company Barrier Bay, due for completion in August this year ready for demonstration-scale facility.

May 2012 3

Magnetic iron ore on the surface at Barnes Hill (above and below)

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SLIDE 4

Investment Highlights

ISSUED CAPITAL

  • 517m fully paid ordinary shares (ASX: PRW

~37% held by Frankfurt Exchange investors)

  • 279m options expiring @ 5 cents on 1

September 2014

  • 52m options expiring @ 25 cents on 31

December 2013

May 2012 4 FINANCIAL POSITION

  • Zero net debt
  • Full-funding partner for Barnes Hill

Project

  • Current stock price A$0.021 (23/04/12)
  • Current market capitalisation A$10.8m
  • Cash at bank A$800k
  • Liquid financial assets A$1.85m

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (above) provides solid liquidity to Proto shares

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SLIDE 5

Directors and Management

Proto is led by a team of experienced executives each drawing on their relevant skill sets from a diverse range of backgrounds.

DIRECTORS

  • Ian Campbell, Non-Executive Chairman (ex Australian Federal Environment Minister)
  • Andrew Mortimer, Managing Director (lawyer, mining executive)
  • Greg Melick, Executive Director (SC, ex Tasmanian Crown Prosecutor, Major General,

Head of Australian Defence Reserves)

  • Lia Darby, Non-Executive Director (lawyer, mining executive)
  • Kay Philip, Non-Executive Director (geophysicist, company director)

MANAGEMENT AND SENIOR CONSULTANTS

  • Ashley Hood, Chief Operating Officer (ex Anglo Gold Ashanti)
  • Pierre Richard, Chief Development Officer (ex Mallesons, Macquarie Bank)
  • Carl Swensson, Consulting Geologist (Swensson Resource Management Pty Ltd, ex

Normandy)

  • Dan Hampton, Project Manager
  • Hugh Minson, Business & Technology Development Manager

May 2012 5

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SLIDE 6

The Global Nickel Industry

  • Nickel is extremely hard, non-corrosive and has a high melting point
  • Nickel is present in over 3,000 different alloys that are used in more than

250,000 end-use applications. 40% percent of annual use is in:

  • super alloys to withstand high temperatures and/or pressures or

have high electrical conductivity; and

  • nonferrous alloys
  • Uses include:
  • the production of coins, in jet engines, as a catalyst for certain

chemical reactions and in rechargeable batteries

May 2012

Nickel stainless steel was pioneered with the Chrysler Building in 1930

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  • US$30 billion plus industry
  • Nickel bearing deposits come in two types:

Sulphide Laterite Reserves 40% 60% Production 58% 42%

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SLIDE 7

May 2012

Barnes Hill

Tasmanian Nickel-Cobalt Resource

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SLIDE 8

Barnes Hill Strategy

May 2012 8

Iron Ore Operation 500ktpa nickel operation using IX technology 500ktpa nickel

  • peration using IX &

Barrier Bay technology

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SLIDE 9

Barnes Hill, Tasmania

May 2012 9

  • JORC reserve of 6.6Mt at 0.82% Ni and

0.06% Co at a 0.5% Ni cut-off (5.6Mt of indicated resources)

  • Mine life of ~15 years at 500,000t p.a.
  • 50:50 development JV with Metals Finance

Limited

  • Superb infrastructure just 40km from

Launceston and 15km from deep water port of Bell Bay

  • Metals Finance feasibility study due in less

than 90 days (by Q3 2012)

  • Feasibility study and metallurgy showing

low acid consumption ore

  • Targeting iron ore operation by end of

2012

  • Proto largest shareholder in Metals

Finance with 14.2% held

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SLIDE 10

Barnes Hill - Finance

  • $98m estimated CAPEX for the project (DFS due by July)
  • Equity to come from Joint Venture Partner, Metals Finance Ltd
  • Project equipment (machinery) and debt finance to come from Caterpillar
  • Project equipment (IX technology) finance to come from Dow Chemical
  • Currently working on off-take finance

May 2012 10

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SLIDE 11

Project Layout

May 2012 11

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SLIDE 12

Mine Layout and the Environment

May 2012 12

  • All environmental impacts have been

minimised.

  • Key plant populations will be totally

avoided or maintained

  • No active dens of Spotted-tailed quoll
  • r Tasmanian devil, and no masked
  • wls
  • Processing all placed furthest from residents

and outside nature reserves

  • Comprehensive package of offsets through

proposed purchase 105 ha private land to support 87 ha of native habitat

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SLIDE 13

DPEMP and Development Progress

May 2012 13

  • Proto has completed and lodged its Development

Proposal and Environmental Management Plan for permitting approval. This follows from the granting of the Barnes Hill Mining Lease in June. The DPEMP:

  • Mining will involve ore extraction from surface pits, ore preparation and nickel extraction using

vat leaching to produce a dilute 8g/L sulphuric acid solution.

  • The process flowsheet has been designed and tested, and the initial engineering design

completed.

  • The Barrier Bay technology will improve reagent recovery and lower the environmental

footprint, however, Barnes Hill is not dependent on the technology to be economically viable.

  • Addresses the Guidelines established by the Tasmanian

Environment Protection Authority (EPA) based on Proto’s earlier Notice of Intent (NOI)

  • Details the environmental work completed with extensive

studies showing no material presence of fauna, and minimal flora impacts. Heritage surveys also completed with “green-light” results

Barnes Hill is just 15km from the deepwater port of Bell Bay (above)

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SLIDE 14

Exploration Projects

WA and NT

May 2012 14

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Project Activity

  • Development
  • Barnes Hill
  • Kiefernberg (Germany)
  • Northern Territory Exploration
  • Lindeman’s Bore JV
  • Wave Hill
  • Waterloo JV
  • Western Australia Exploration
  • Clara Hill
  • Doolgunna Projects
  • Argyle Corridor
  • Ord Basin East
  • Waite Kauri North
  • Q U E E N S L A N D

S O U T H A U S T R A L I A N O R T H E R N T E R R I T O R Y W E S T E R N A U S T R A L I A N E W S O U T H W A L ES V I C T O R I A T A S M A N I A

500 1000 km

  • !

" # !#$%

  • "$

&

  • 15
  • May 2012
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SLIDE 16

Lindeman’s Bore, NT

May 2012 16

  • Drilling of the 500m by 500m

bedrock conductor gold-copper prospect located 380km southwest of Katherine finished in April this year

  • The hole intersected strong

quartz-carbonate-chlorite- hematite-sericite alteration associated with intense vertical foliation.

  • LBD3 intersected chalcopyrite

and pyrite mineralisation associated with this alteration in dominantly metavolcanics and black shale between 385-430m.

  • 50% Joint Venture with Peak

Mining and Exploration Ltd funding the campaign under its earn-in to the project

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SLIDE 17

Proto enters WA’s Doolgunna Region

  • Grant confirmation recently received on all five of the projects in the region of the

historical Glengarry Basin being:

  • The Casey project (E51/1457) covering 63 sub-blocks (196km2)
  • The nearby Great Doolgunna project (E51/1455) covering a further 2 sub-

blocks (6km2)

  • The Mt Killara project (E53/1580) covering 44 sub-blocks (135km2)
  • The Magellan North project (E53/1581) covering 6 sub-blocks (18km2)
  • The Station Bore project (E69/2872) covering 17 sub-blocks (52km2)
  • In total, Proto’s licenses and applications cover a combined area of over 357km2
  • The new application areas may contain rock units analogous to those that host

known Cu-Au and Pb mineral deposits in the region

  • The first field studies have commenced comprising airborne magnetics geophysics

with Mt. Killara showing interesting structures

May 2012 17

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SLIDE 18

Great Exploration Neighbourhood

May 2012 18

  • The projects are located within the

Palaeoproterozoic-aged Yerrida Basin which has seen encouraging exploration results in recent times

  • The Great Doolgunna project lies 60km

southeast of Sandfire Resources NL’s DeGrussa Cu-Au Deposit and adjoins Great Western Exploration Limited’s Doolgunna Project

  • Exploration immediately west of the

application area by the Geological Survey

  • f Western Australia and Great Western

Exploration has defined a broad polymetallic geochemical soil anomaly along with several VTEM conductors.

  • Nearby explorers with positive recent

exploration results include Sipa Resources Ltd, Ventnor Resources Limited and Dourado Resources Ltd.

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SLIDE 19

Proto’s Technology

Barrier Bay Pty Ltd

May 2012 19

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SLIDE 20

The Nickel Supply Problem

  • Majority of nickel is produced from

sulphide deposits

  • Known sulphide sources are getting

depleted, grades are falling and new discoveries are scarce

  • Future production must increasingly

come from laterite sources

  • Laterite ore bodies contain high levels of
  • ther elements such as cobalt, iron and

magnesium that call for different processing methods

  • Most common forms of processing

laterite are High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) and Heap Leaching. Under these methods ore is processed in a sulphuric acid leach to extract the metal. The nickel/cobalt solution is then separated and purified by solvent extraction and electrowinning.

May 2012

Acid plant at Ravensthorpe, WA (below) Goro nickel plant in New Caledonia (above)

But this requires large CAPEX (for an acid plant, plus pressure and heat apparatus for HPAL) and OPEX (for acid, acid transport, and by-product storage) Leaves a large environmental footprint as by-products including sulphuric acid, and iron and magnesium salts must be neutralised and stored in a tailings dam

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SLIDE 21

Nickel Laterite Processing Technology

  • In order to process nickel laterite economically, Proto uses a low CAPEX and OPEX

technology based on the use of electricity to process waste by-products into reusable acid and saleable metal products

  • The technology has a front end and a back end:

May 2012 Logic of the Barrier Bay backend recycling cell (below) 21

Front end: extracts saleable nickel and cobalt from acidic solution using an Ion Exchange flow sheet developed and applied by Proto’s JV partner Metals Finance Limited at Rio Tinto’s Palabora mine in South Africa since the end of 2008 Back end: extracts saleable iron and magnesium from acidic solution and recycles up to 90% of the sulphuric acid. Proto’s 50%-owned technology company Barrier Bay Pty Ltd has been testing this process since 2008 and it is now under commercial pilot

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SLIDE 22

Why Barrier Bay is Game-Changing

May 2012 The pilot plant (above) in northern NSW is approaching the latter stages of the pilot

  • Barrier Bay’s process turns the cost items of nickel

laterite processing into revenue streams Barrier Bay’s technology:

  • Recycles up to 90% of acid inputs
  • Depends on the more stable price of electricity as
  • pposed to the volatile price of sulphuric acid
  • Extracts the iron and magnesium to create saleable

products of iron oxide and magnesium hydroxide HPAL and Heap Leaching methods:

  • Depend on sulphur/sulphuric acid inputs that are lost in

the waste stream

  • Generates by-products of iron sulphate and

magnesium sulphate that must be neutralised and stored in the tailings dam

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SLIDE 23

Barrier Bay at Barnes Hill

  • Proto was uncomfortable disposing of iron and

magnesium as waste, rather than generating revenue

  • n its flagship project, Barnes Hill – “we don’t bury

$100 bills”

  • Proto has financed and developed the Barrier Bay

technology with Australian Commonwealth Government grant funding and the encouragement and urging of the Tasmanian State Government

  • “Nickel laterite” is the conventional misnomer given to

polymetallic nickel, cobalt, iron and magnesium mineralisations hosted in weathered, surface lateritic clay

May 2012 23

The Barrier Bay technology extracts all four elements as saleable products thus reducing CAPEX on acid plants and tailings dams by up to 80% By contrast, conventional processing only produces saleable nickel and then squanders nickel revenues to fund neutralisation and storage of the iron and magnesium – this not only costs money, but also lowers revenue by burying co-products rather than selling them

The proposed site for mineral processing at Barnes Hill, Tasmania

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SLIDE 24

Contact Details

  • Head Office:

Suite 1901, Level 19, 109 Pitt St, Sydney NSW 2000

  • Mailing Address:

PO Box R1870 Royal Exchange NSW 1225, Australia

  • Phone: +61 (0)2 9225 4000
  • Fax:

+61 (0)2 9235 3889

  • Email: info@protoresources.com.au
  • Web: www.protoresources.com.au and www.protoresources.de

May 2012 24